In a Digital Age

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Well, it's that time of the semester again. Finals are done, the next term's classes don't start for another week, and I'm sitting here at the computer at a loss for something to do. I was afraid this would happen.

It's funny, because I had so much planned. Among the items on my ongoing to do list:

Build a wah pedal.Get my plasma speaker working.Finish reading the Return of the King.Write a song.Learn to cook something.Develop a new method to approximate quantum wave functions.

Okay, so the last one is a little weird as far as things one does in one's spare time, but it's not a joke. Anyway, the point is that I have plenty to do, yet I find myself wasting a half-hour or more on Reddit!

Is it just recuperation from academic burnout after a tough semester? I hope so. However, I suspect that I'll be battling the desire to waste time as long as I have any to waste. Curse my internet addiction. As I've considered in a previous post, it is easy to let electronic entertainment take over and allow my intellectual faculties to atrophy, and this really is a tragedy.

As a student, I should be driven by a consistent desire to learn and improve. While I do hold that desire, it does not always drive me as it should. At least, it does not drive me sufficiently to pull me out of the ruts into which I tend to fall. For example, I started this blog for a class. I was fully convinced that after the class ended, I would go through the effort to keep it going of my own accord. However, when I sat down to write just now, this is the best I could come up with-- a quaint little complaint initially developed because I couldn't think of anything to write. Why not? Because all of the various interesting things about which I could write would require me to do research, find sources, back up claims, and so forth. Somehow now that class is over, I just can't seem to get excited over that research like I did before.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Time will tell if I can regain my will to study for studying's sake.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

What follows is a reflective post looking back at the previous semester, focusing on the work I did in the course for which I started this blog. After this post, the blog will simply consist of my own thoughts and ideas.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Don't worry, just one more class-related post after this one and then my posts will be what I want to say again. This is a post detailing my efforts to invite people to the end-of-semester class-sponsored event, "Digital Citizens Unite!"

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Note: Unfortunately, this blog is for the moment a necessary vehicle for me to present class assignments. As a result, I have to post this despite the fact that I would not actually post this on a blog were it my decision. Soon enough I'll get back to blogging about things that I care about.

Friday, March 16, 2012

“My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented
level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public
trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and
collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency
and effectiveness in Government.”